


walked a very thin line

by WelcomeToTheBadlands



Series: folklore inspired fics [1]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Album: Folklore, Anger Management, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Exes to Lovers, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Forests, Inspired by Taylor Swift, Miscommunication, Tags May Change, Witches, anger issues, cottage
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:54:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25502434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WelcomeToTheBadlands/pseuds/WelcomeToTheBadlands
Summary: Those eyes add insult to injury.Rey has lived in the woods for four years, and it's been the best decision she ever made. She casts spells, keeps pretty flowers that she likes in the pockets of her cardigans, and she's happy.Until her ex shows up at her cottage again.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: folklore inspired fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1847848
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	walked a very thin line

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to post these fics in order of the songs but I decided against that. This one is inspired by Exile by Taylor Swift. Enjoy.

Rey Niima had been living in the forest for about four years without incident, and it was one of the best decisions that she had made. She had built her home herself, something that was probably a lot easier with the fact that she had magic. Rey’s home was a small cottage with a garden of fruits and vegetables and charms that kept it safe. It was quiet and often days, nothing happened, but that was okay. Rey liked it that way. 

She had never come across another person due to the fact that she was so far in the woods. And she was pretty sure that woods were doing something to make sure that she didn’t encounter anyone, which she was grateful for. The forest kept her safe, and she kept it safe. It was more than anything that the city had ever done for her. 

Rey’s days were peaceful. She’d make herself tea and go about the forest, foraging the things that she would need for her potions, for food and for tea. All of her days were good. 

And then he showed up. 

The clouds had shrouded the stars and the moon the whole week before he came, and the forest just felt off. Like it was trying to warn her that something new was about to happen, but it didn’t know how too. She had been on edge even leaving her home to get supplies that she needed, but she knew that if she didn’t she would be hungry later, so she had. 

The air was muggier than it had been in a while. It reminded her of the city, of how it used to choke her every single day. She tried her best to hurry up with her task. She would place her hand on the trees as she passed them and mutter reassurance to them, as they seemed just as anxious as she was. 

When she got back to her house, she stopped off in the distance. There was someone looking around her cottage. At first, she didn’t know who it was, but it didn’t take her long to figure out who it was. “Hello?” Just the sound of his voice made Rey feel like her heart was being cut out with a dull knife. 

_Ben Solo._

A wave of nausea and panic hit her at the same time as she wondered what the hell he was doing there, and then promptly moved to hide behind a bush so that he didn’t see her. She bit the inside of her cheek, and waited, praying to the Lords that he would leave and never come back. 

*

Ben knew that walking deep in the forest was never a smart idea. Especially when he didn’t know where he was going, but work had been stressful and he had needed to walk. “Make sure that you watch where you’re going,” Phasma had told him, “I heard that forest has a way of turning people around.” 

“I thought that was a different forest,” Hux chimed in, “wasn’t there some sort of legend that this forest lures you further into the woods by making you hallucinate the one thing that you love the most?” 

“You guys don’t really believe that, do you?” 

“No,” Hux said, “but you never know. Just be careful, man.” 

“I appreciate the concern,” Ben had rolled his eyes and began his walk. It didn’t take long for him to decide to go off the beaten path. The trees towered above him in a way that he had never seen before—in fact, he was pretty sure that the trees in this area weren’t actually supposed to be this large, which alarmed him. 

Soon he ended up on a path that looked a little less than safe. There were brambles and thorns that could’ve snagged his clothes at any minute, but Ben had dealt with those before. It was nothing new. 

What was odd to him was where he ended up. He ended up near a clearing where a cottage sat right in the middle. And it didn’t look abandoned either. It looked like it had been lived in. Certain vegetables and fruits that were supposed to be impossible to grow in this type of soil were standing proudly in a garden, and there were dresses hanging on a clothesline to dry. 

The floral patterns reminded him of Rey. 

He shook his head, knowing that it was impossible that she would be out here, or anyone else. But it still confused him. “Hello?” He called out. He supposed that if someone was out here, they would probably be very scared about a strange man with an axe stumbling onto their property. 

Still—his curiosity got the better of him. “Hello?” He called out again. 

Nothing. 

He decided if it was best for him to leave, but still, Ben told himself that he would come back. 

*

_Ben had never known how he had managed to get with Rey when they got together. She was fifteen and he was sixteen when the two of them started dating, and the two of them were more troubled than they could handle. The two of them met when they were in the worst of places, they were both participating in a group that was known for having group activities for troubled teens._

_At the time, Rey would get migraines a lot that would make her anger issues worse. Ben was just always angry and sad. He had no excuse really. They hit it off almost immediately. Rey had been practically plastered to the side of the wall, staring at everyone else._

_She was wearing a white floral dress and a dark denim jean jacket, her hair half up half down. Immediately, Ben had thought that she looked way out of his league. That didn’t stop him from approaching her though. Everyone else there was actually participating in group activities._

_She wasn’t._

_“Hey,” He said without really thinking about it. Rey looked up to him and raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t look like she didn’t want to talk to him._

_“Hey,” It was a simple and stupid greeting, but it did the trick. From there, the relationship hit the ground running fast. Both of them moved at a pace that wasn’t normal. They were friends for two weeks and then Rey kissed him. He never knew how she could be so sure of herself._

_He learned more about her._

_Rey was good at everything. She was a straight-A student, despite missing a lot of class, she loved to paint and loved gardening, she loved candles and knitting, and there were so many other things that she could do. Ben wished that he had all of that going for him._

_He really didn’t have anything going for him, though. He wasn’t talented like her. He wasn’t particularly good looking or smart. He was just there, watching her flourish and go as they went through high school. Her smile would always brighten his day._

_He told himself that he wanted that smile in his life forever._

*

Rey was relieved to see Ben go, she hurriedly went back into her cottage and shut the door, feeling the effects of the day wear her down as she began unpacking all of her things. She told herself the next day, she would ward off the place and go about her day. Right now she needed to nap though. She had a pile of warm blankets waiting for her on her bed, and she sighed in relief. 

She needed that right now. 

When she woke, she went about her day, gathering supplies to ward off people from being able to find her home. It took her a few hours, and she spent those hours still feeling off, but she knew that that feeling would go away eventually. 

Except it didn’t. 

She was walking back to her cottage again, and there he was, right in front of her. At first, he didn’t see her, but Rey didn’t hide this time. She just stared at him, because _how_ could he be out here. She wasn’t sure if she was going to panic or if her blood was boiling. Ben turned around and the two just stared at each other for a minute. “Rey?” 

She started walking to her cottage. 

“Rey? Is that you?” Ben repeated. Rey really didn’t want to deal with this right now. She couldn’t believe that this was happening. “It is, isn’t it? Wait up,” 

“I have no reason to wait for you,” Rey managed to speak despite the fact that she wanted to throw up. It took everything in her to not burst out in anger. She passed through different turns, hoping that she would lose him in the woods. 

“Rey, come on. I just want to talk, what are you do—” Rey had never used her powers around him, but this time she did, using a mental spell to knock him back a few feet onto the ground so she could get away from him faster. He didn’t follow her after that. Rey closed her eyes, breathing harder than she had before. 

It took her a minute to calm down. She wiped the tears away from her face, and went back to her bed and laid down. She didn’t need this right now. 

*

There were so many things that were going through Ben’s head right now. The first thing he was thinking was,  _ What the fuck?  _ Ben stayed on the ground for a minute after an invisible force had knocked the wind out of him, and then decided that he needed to get up. He dusted himself off and tried not to freak out too much. Rey was the one who was living in that cottage after all after so many things had reminded him. 

Ben couldn’t wrap his head over everything that had just happened. Him seeing Rey. Rey somehow knocked him to the ground without even touching him. His brain went back to when they were together, Rey had told him that she was a witch way back then. 

Ben had just assumed that she meant that she had practiced Wicca and brushed it off after that. He didn’t think that she had meant anything like that. 

Part of Ben wanted to follow Rey back, to see what was going on and how the hell she lived out here by herself. He didn’t, though. He knew that Rey didn’t want him to do that. After how everything ended, he deserved it. 


End file.
